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ADDRESS 

PEf,IVEREn IN 



BOSTON, JNEW-YORK AND PHILADELPHIA, , ^ 
HEFORE THE 



FREE PEOPLE OF COLOR, 



IN APRIL, 1S33. 



/ 



BY WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON 



PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. 



NEW-YORK : 
PRINTED FOR THE FREE PEOPLE OF COLOR- 

1833, 



ADDRESS 



Brethren and Friends : — 

My pleasure, in meeting you on this occasion, would be 
perfect, were it not dashed with the knowledge that I am soon 
to be separated from you, in a distant country. Probably 
you are all aware that, in a few days, I propose to sail from 
New-York for England, on a high and important mission. 

When I reflect that this may be the last time I shall behold 
you together on earth ; the last time I shall be permitted to 
administer advice and consolation to your minds ; the last 
time I shall have an opportunity to pour out my gratitude 
before you, for the numerous manifestations of your confidence, 
and -appreciation of my humble services in your cause— I 
cannot but feel a strong depression of my mind. The sepa- 
ration of friends— especially if it is to be a long and hazard- 
ous one, is sure to excite conflicting emotions of anxiety, 
regret and sorrow. Their attachment then seems to acquire 
new strength — they never could have deemed it so painful a 
thing to part — reluctantly is given the pressure of the hand, 
and tremulously uttered the word— " Farewell !" But a sepa- 
ration, like this, is to me, and I believe to yourselves, one of 
no ordinary occurrence. Your condition, as a people, has 
long attracted my attention, secured my efforts, and awakened 
in my breast a flame of sympathy, which neither the winds 
nor waves of opposition can ever extinguish. It is the lowness 
of your estate, in the estimatfon of the world, which exalts 
you in my eyes. It is the distancv? that separates you from 
the blessings and privileges of society, which brings you so 
closely to my aflections. It is the unmerited scorn, reproach 
and persecution of your persons, by tiiose whose complexion is 
colored like mv own. which command for you my sympathy 



4 

and respect. It is the fewness of your friends — the great 
multitude of your enemies — that induces me to stand forth in 
your defence. 

On your part, do I not know how deep and intense is your 
affection towards myself ? Have you not, as individuals and 
societies, multiplied your expressions and tokens of regard, 
until my obligations assume a mountainous height? Have 1 
more stedfast and grateful friends, in this hostile world, than 
yourselves 'I Not that I really deserve so much at your hands 
— not that the value of my labors bears any proportion to the 
rich recompense of your unbounded confidence and love — not 
that I am qualified in all things to instruct you ; yet you have 
shown, in a thousand v/ays, that the course I have pursued has 
secured your cordial approbation — that the language I have 
spoken has been the language of your own hearts — that the 
advice I have given has been treasured up in your memories, 
like good seed sown in good ground, and is now producing 
fruit, ten, thirty, sixty, and even a hundred fold. 

Feeling, then, my dear brethren, how painful to me is the 
prospect of our immediate separation, and knowing your own 
emotions in view of it, I may well term it something beyond 
the usual parting of friends. 

But let not this be an occasion of sadness. I will make it 
rather an occasion of joy. Why should it not be so? Is not 
the heaven over your heads, which has so long been clothed in 
sackcloth, beginning to disclose its starry principalities and 
illumine your path-way '? Do you not see the pitiless storm, 
which has so long been pouring its rage upon you, breaking 
away, and a bow of promise, as glorious as that which suc- 
ceeded the ancient deluge, spanning the sky — a token that, to 
the end of time, the billows of prejudice and oppression shall 
no more cover the earth, to the destruction of your race ; but 
seed-time and harvest shall never fail, and the laborer shall eat 
the fruit of his hands ? Is not your cause ripening like the 
spring ? Yours has been a long and rigorous winter. The 
chill of contempt, the frost of adversity, the blast of persecu- 
tion, the storm of oppression — all have been yours. There 
was no sustenance to be found — no prospect to delight the eye 
or inspire the drooping heart — no golden ray to dissipate the 



o-loom The waves of derision were stayed by no barrier, 
?ut made a clear breach over you. But now-thanks be to 
God' that dreary winter is rapidly hastenmg away. Ihe 
sun of humanity is going steadily up, from the horizon to its 
zenith, growing larger and brighter, and melting the Irozen 
earth beneath its powerful rays. The genial showers ot 
repentance are softly faUing upon the barren plain ; the v^ilder- 
ness is budding like the rose ; the voice of joy succeeds the 
notes of wo ; and hope, like the lark, is soaring upwards, and 
warbling hymns at the gate of heaven. 

And this, dear brethren, is but the outbursting ot spring. 
What, think you, shall be the summer and autumn ? 

" Then shall the trembling mouinev come, 
And bind bis sheaves, and bear ihctn home ; 
The voice. Ion? broke ^vith sighs, shall sing, 
And heaven with hallelujahs ring !" • 

This is but •' the twilight, the dim dawn" of day. VS^ hat, 
then, shall be the brightness of the day itself ! These are but 
a few drops of mercy. What shall be the full shower-the 
rolling tide ? These are but crumbs of comfort to preyen 
you wholly from perishing. What shall be the bountiful 
table 1 Who can adopt the words of the sweet smger in 
Israel more truly than yourselves ^ '= If it had not been the 
Lord who was on our side, when men rose up agamst us: 
then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was 
kindled against us : then the waters had °™[«' >'='7<' "^: ™ 
stream had gone over our souls : blessed is the Lord who hath 
not given us as a prey to their teeth : our soul is escaped as a 
bird'out of the snare of the fowlers : the --«- broken, and 
we are escaped: our help is in the name of the Lord, who 

made heaven and earth," . , j „c „„,. 

Why should this not be an occasion of joy, instead oi soi- 
row ■' Listen to those trumpet tones which come swelling on 
the winds of the Atlantic, and which shall ^J^'^J^^J^^ 
every harp in heaven ! If there is joy m that blissful abode 
o'r 'one s'nner that repenteth, how mighty and thrilling nius 
it be over a repentant nation- And Great Britain is that 
nation. Her people are humbUng *emselves be ore Go4 and 
before those whom they have so long held in bondage. Their 



voices are breaking, in peals of thunder, upon the ear of Par • 
Hament, demanding the immediate and utter overthrow of 
slavery in all the colonies ; and in obedience to their will, the 
mandate is about being issued by Parliament, which shall 
sever at a blow the chains of eight hundred thousand slaves ! 
"Vv hat heart can conceive — what pen or tongue describe, the 
happiness which must flow from the consummation of this 
act? That cruel lash, which has torn so many tender bodies, 
and is reeking with innocent blood ; that lash, which has 
driven so many human victims, like beasts, to their unrequited 
toil — that lash, whose sounds are heard from the rising of the 
sun to its decline, mingled with the slirieks of bleeding sulTer- 
ers — that lash is soon to be cast away, never again to wound 
the flesh, or degrade those who are made in the image of God. 
And those fetters of iron, which have bound so many in igno- 
minious servitude, and wasted their bodies, and borne them 
down to an untimely grave — shall be shivered in pieces, as 
the lightning rends the pine, and the victims of tyranny shall 
leap forth, " redeemed, regenerated, and disenthralled, by the 
irresistible genius of unix^ersal emancipation." And that 
darkness which has for so many generations shrouded the 
minds of the slaves — making them like the brutes that perish 
— shall give way to the light of freedom and religion. O, how 
transforming the change ! In contemplating it, my imagina- 
tion overpowers the serenity of my soul, and makes language 
seem poor and despicable. 

In those colonies where freedom is soon to be proclaimed, it 
appears, by returns made to the British Parliament, that the 
decrease in the slave population, during the last eleven years, 
by the cruelty of the planters, has been fifty-two thousand, 
eight hundred and eighty-seven — that is to say, nearly five 
thousand slaves are whipped and driven to death — murdered 
in the most horrible manner, every year in the cultivation of 
the sugar-cane alone. Stating the whole slave population in 
the colonies to be, in round numbers, eight hundred thousand, 
their annual increase, according to the rates which freedom 
produces, would be at least twenty -five thousand ; add to this 
number the five thousand decrease, and the sum total of lives 
prevented or destroyed every year is thirty thousand ; or, 



ill eleven years, three iiuiidred and thirty-thi'ee thousand. 
Horrible butchery — beyond the ferocity of canibals ! 

Shall we not exult, then, at the prospect of the speedy ter- 
mination of this most bloody system 7 I make no estimate of 
the amount of suffering endured — I count not the number of 
stripes received — I measure not the tears of anguish shed by 
the miserable slaves. One view of the picture is enough to 
fill my cup of joy to overflowing : it is to know that liberty 
is soon to rescue, from martyrdom and death, thirty thousand 
of my fellow-creatures, annually. It is to know that the traffic 
in slaves and souls of men is about to cease. It is to know 
that the husband shall be a protector of his wife and children, 
instead of being torn from their arms and sold into exile ; that 
woman shall no more be driven into the field by a brutal 
overseer, or subjected to infamy — that the child, instead of 
being regarded as a piece of property, shall be cherished and 
loved as a bud of immortal promise. 

Cheers for Great Britain I cheers for her noble men and 
women ! cheers for the bright example which they are setting 
to the world ! cheers for their generous sympathy in the cause 
of the oppressed in our own country ! 

Why should we not rejoice this evening, brethren ? Find 
we notliing at home to raise our drooping spirits, to invigorate 
our hopes, and to engage our efforts 7 Have we made no 
progress for the last two years, either in self-improvement, or 
in the cause of bleeding humanity 'l Are there no cheering 
signs of the times, in our moral sky , upon which we may fix 
our joyful gaze ( 

Look, in the first place, at the abolition standard — more 
gorgeous and spirit-stirring than the star-spangled banner — 
floating high in the air ! Fresh is the breeze that meets it f 
bright are the sumiy rays which adorn it ! Around it, thou- 
sands are gathering with high and holy courage, to contend 
not with carnal but spiritual weapons against the powers of 
darkness. O, the loftiness of that spirit which animates them ! 
It towers above the Alps — it pierces beyond the clouds. O, 
the intensity of that flame of brotherly love which burns 
within their breasts ! It never can burn out — nor can many 
waters extinguish it. O, the stability of that faith which 



8 

sustains them under all their toils and trials ! It rs firmer 
than the foundations of the earth — it is strong as the throne 
of God. O, the generous daring of that moral principle which 
inspires their hearts and governs their actions ! Neither 
reproach nor persecution — neither wealth nor power — neither 
bolts nor bars — neither the gibbet nor the stake, shall be able 
lo subdue it. Yes, my colored countrymen, these are the 
men — ay, and the women, too, who Iiave espoused your cause. 
And they will stand by it, until life be extinct. They will not 
fail in strength, or faith, or courage, or zeal, or action. Loud 
as the tempest of opposition may rage around them, above it 
shall their rallying cry be heard in the thvmder-tone of heaven. 
Dark as their path-way may be, it shall blaze with the light 
of truth in their possession. Numberless as may be the ene- 
mies who surround them, they will not retreat from the field ; 
for He who is mightier than legions of men and devils is the 
captain of their salvation, and will give them the victory. I 
know your advocates well — I know the spirit which actuates 
them. Whether they reside in the East, or West, or North 
they have but one object — their hearts are stirred with the 
same pulsation — their eye is single — their motives are pure. 
Tell me not of the bravery and devotedness of those whose 
life-blood reddened the plains of Marathon, poured out in 
defence of liberty. Tell me not of the Spartan band, with 
Leonidas at their head, who defended the pass of Thermo- 
pyle against a Persian host. I award to them the meed of 
animal courage ; but the heroism of blood and carnage is as 
much below the patient endurance of wrong, and the cheerful 
forgiveness of injury, as the earth is below the sky. It is as 
often displayed by brute- animals, as by men. With infinitely 
higher satisfaction, with a warmer glow of emulation, with 
more intense admiration, do I contemplate the abolition 
phalanx in the United States, who are maintaining your cause, 
unflinchingly, through evil report — for the good report is yet 
to come — and at the imminent peril of their lives ; and, 
what is dearer than fife, the sacrifice of their reputation. If 
ever there was a cause which established the disinterestedness 
and integrity of its supporters, yours is that cause. They 
who are contending for the immediate abolition of slavery— 



the destruction of its ally, the American Colonization Society 
— and the bestowal of equal rights and privileges upon the 
whole colored population — well knew what would be the 
consequences of their advocacy to themseh^es. They knew 
that slander would blacken their characters with infamy — that 
their pleadings would be received with ridicule and reproach 
— that persecution would assail them on the right hand and 
on the left — that the dungeon would yawn for their bodies — 
that the dagger of the assassin would gleam behind them — 
that the arm of power would be raised to crush them to the 
earth — that they would be branded as disturbers of the peace, 
as fanatics, madmen, and incendiaries — that the heel of friend- 
ship would be lifted against them, and love be turned into 
hatred, and confidence into suspicion, and respect into derision 
— that their worldly interests would be jeoparded, and the 
honor and emoluments of office be withheld from their enjoy- 
ment. Knowing all this, still they dared all things, in order to 
save their country, and abolish the bloody system of slavery. 
Will the base and the servile accuse them of being actuated 
by a hope of reward 7 Reward ! It is the reward which 
calumny gives to virtue — the reward which selfishness bestows 
upon benevolence ; but nothing of worldly applause, or fame, 
or promotion. Yet they have a reward — and who will blame 
them for coveting it 1 It is the gratitude of the suffering and 
the oppressed — the approbation of a good conscience — the 
blessing of the Most High. 

" Tempt them with bribes, you tempt in vain. 
'try them with fire, you'll find them true." 

To deter such souls from their purposes, or vanquish tliem 
in combat, is as impossible as to stop the rush of the oceon 
when the spirit of the storm rides upon its mountain billows. 
They are hourly increasing in number and strength, and grwig 
on from conquering to conquer. Convert after convert, press 
after press, pulpit after pulpit, is subdued, and enlisted on the 
side of justice and of freedom. 

In the second place, we perceive for our encouragement, 
brethren, that the attention of the nation is now fixed upon 
the subject of slavery with an interest altogether unprece- 

2 



10 

dented. No longer will sleep be given to the eyes of the people, 
until the last chain is broken in our land. What has created 
the mighty discussion which has taken, or is taking place in 
almost every debating Society or Lyceum throughout the 
Union, and which cannot cease till the cause of it, si/Avery, 
is overthrown ? To what is to be attributed the change, the 
great, the surprising change which is now going on in public 
sentiment, favorable to your rights as freemen, and to the 
emancipation of your enslaved brethren 7 To the truth, sanc- 
tified and made powerful and efficacious ; triJth, spoken 
plainly, fearlessly, constantly ; truth, pressed urgently upon 
the consciences of the American people, so that they cannot 
rest. May I not say that the Liberator has been a prominent 
medium through which this truth has obtained circulation ? 
Slave holders and their apologists writhe under its strong 
denunciation, and severe though merited rebuke. Mighty 
have been their efforts to crush it, but in vain. It lives, and 
is flourishing in more than pristine vigor. Still may it live, 
*' the terror of evil doers, and a praise to them that do well** — 
live, till our land be freed from the curse which is desolating 
her plains — live till the trump of jubilee be blown throughout 
the world, giving freedom to every bondsman of whatever 
name, or color, or coimtry. If tens of thousands of dollars 
could bribe or suppress it, that sum might easily be obtained 
at the south. Its overthrow would elicit a loud and frantic 
yell of triumph from the enemies of the colored race. No — 
come what may, the Liberator must not, shall not go down — 
not as long as this body of mine can endure fatigue, or these 
fingers wield a pen, or my intellect remains sound. I should as 
soon think of cutting off my arms, as abandoning that paper. 
Its arrows never fail to do execution. Bitter enemies and 
luke-warm friends represent it as an incendiary publication. 
Well, I am willing to admit the propriety of the designation. 
It is, unquestionably, kindling a great fire ; but it is the fire of 
sympathy and holy indignation, against the most atrocious 
system on earth, and will burn up nothing but the chaff. It is 
spreading from house to house, from city to city, from village 
to village, ay, and from state to state. The east is glowing, 
as if a new sun had risen in splendid radiance ; and the west 



11 

has caught its beams, and is kindling with new intensity. 
Even the dark Atlantic, as far as the shores of old England, 
shows a luminous path of light, and the philanthropists of that 
country are rejoicing as they gaze upon it. Like a vestal 
fire, may this never cease to burn. Let those throw water 
upon it, who will — love to God and man shall feed it, and 
prevent its extinguishment. 

But the Liberator is said to be destructive in its character 
and tendency. That charge, also, I admit is true. It is put- 
ting whole magazines of truth under the slave system, and I 
trust in God will blow it into countless fragments, so that not 
the remnant of a whip or chain can be found in all the south, 
and so that upon its ruins may be erected the beautiful temple 
of freedom. I will not waste my strength in foolishly endea- 
voring to beat down this great Bastile with a feather. I will 
not commence at thereof, and throw oft' its tiles by piece-meal. 
I am for adopting a more summary method of demolishing it. 
I am for digging under its foundations, and springing a mine 
that shall not leave one stone upon another. I leave coloni- 
zationists to pick up the leaves which are annually shed by 
the Bohon Upas of our land, with the vain hope of extermina- 
ting it ; but as for myself, I choose rather to assail its trunk 
with the axe of justice, and strike with all my nerve such 
blows as shall cause " this great poison-tree of lust and blood, 
and of all abominable and heartless iniquity, to fall before it ; 
and law and love, and God and man, to shout victory over its 
ruin." 

But the Liberator uses very hard language, and calls a 
great many bad names, and is very harsh and abusive. Pre- 
cious cant, indeed ! And what has been so efficacious as 
this hard language ? Now, I am satisfied that its strength of 
denunciation bears no proportion to the enormous guilt of the 
slave system. The English language is lamentably weak 
and deficient, in regard to this matter. I wish its epithets 
were heavier — I wish it would not break so easily — I wish I 
could denounce slavery, and all its abettors, in terms equal to 
their infamy. But, shame to tell ! I can apply to him who 
steals the liberties of hundreds of his fellow creatures, and 
lacerates their bodies, and plunders them of all their hard 



12 

earnings, only the same epithet that is apphed by all to a man 
who steals a shilling in this community. I call the slave- 
holder a thief, because he steals human beings, and reduces 
them to the condition of brutes ; and I am thought to be very 
abusive ! I call the man a thief Mrho lakes my handkerchief 
from my pocket, and all the people shout, " right ! right ! so 
he is !" and the court seizes him, and throws him into prison. 
Wonderful consistency ! 

I am anxious to please the people ; but if, in order to do so, 
I must violate the plainest precepts of the gospel, and disre- 
gard the most solemn obligations; will the people see that my 
name is written in the Book of Life, and that my sins are 
blotted out of the Book of Remembrance? If I put out my 
eyes, and stop my ears, and petrify my heart, and become 
insensible as a marble statue, to please the community, will 
the community rescue me from the charge of inhumanity, 
selfishness and cowardice, which will be preferred against me 
at the bar of God ? If they cannot, I must boldly declare the 
truth, " whether men will hear, or whether they will forbear." 

A man who should be seen whipping a post in the street, 
would doubtless excite the mirth of the passing throng. For 
them to be indignant at such treatment, would be a perversion 
of sympathy, and clearly ridiculous. But if it was a dog or a 
horse, instead of a senseless post, which the man was beating 
so unmercifully, their feelings ought to be, and would be, far 
different. They would fearlessly denounce such conduct as 
inhuman, and exhibit much vehemence in their rebukes. But 
if it was a man, or woman, or child, instead of a dog or horse, 
thus suffering under the lash, how the spectators would flame ! 
how their indignation would kindle ! how strong would be 
their denunciations ! how liberally would they apply the un- 
gracious epithet — *' a brute ! a wretch ! a monster!" 

How, then, ought I to feel, and speak, and write, in view of 
a system which is red with innocent blood, drawn from the 
bodies of millions of my countrymen by the scourge of brutal 
drivers ; — which is full of all uncleanness and licentiousness ; 
which destroys the " life of the soul ;"-[-and which is too hor- 
rible for the mind to imagine, or the pen to declare ? How 
ought I to feel and speak ? As a n\im ! as a patriot ! as a 



13 

philanthropist ! as a christian ! My soul should be, as it is, 
on fire. I should thunder — I should lighten. I should blow 
the trumpet of alarm, long and loud. I should use just such 
language as is most descriptive of the crime. I should imitate 
the example of Christ, who, when he had to do with people of 
like manners, called them sharply by their proper names — 
such as, an adulterous and perverse generation, a brood of 
vipers, hypocrites, children of the devil who could not escape 
the damnation of hell. M oderation, under such circumstances, 
is deliberate barbarity, both to the oppressor and the oppres- 
sed — calmness is marble indifference. 

" On such a iheme, 'twere impious to be calm — 
" Passion is reason, transport temper here." 

No ! no ! I never will dilute or modify my language against 
slavery — against the plunderers of my fellow men — against 
American kidnappers. They shall have my honest opinions 
of their conduct. 

But a graver charge is brought against me, brethren, and 
now I want your verdict. It is said that I am exciting your 
rage against the whites, and filling your minds with revenge- 
ful feelings? Is this true? Have not all my addresses and 
appeals to you had a contrary effect upon your minds ? Have 
the}' not been calculated to make you bear all your trials and 
difficulties in the spirit of christian resignation, and to induce 
you to return good for evil 1 Where is the calumniator who 
dares to affirm that you have been turbulent and quarrelsome 
since I began my labors in your behalf? Where is the man 
who is so ignorant as not to know or perceive that, as a peo- 
ple, you are constantly improving in knowledge and virtue ? 
Do you not all congratulate yourselves that you are so united ? 
if not united to the full extent which is desirable, still, united 
far more generally than in former years, and for the best of 
purposes. Is not the spirit of virtuous emulation so great 
among you, as to pervade all classes, from the gray head to 
the youth ? Where is there an association among white lads, 
like the Colored Juvenile Society of Boston? Your female 
societies may proudly compare with any among the whites, 
for general worth and true respectability ; and if they do not 



14 

receive as much applause as their white sisters, it is not be- 
cause they do not deserve it. It is impossible for me to do 
them justice. To them do I owe more than I can ever repay. 
But I will not be profuse in my acknowledgment ; for I am 
admonished that 

" The thankless oft are noisiest in their thanks ; 
As, on the unfruitful pavement, every drop 
That falls from the kind sky is told aloud : 
But in the grateful heart a blessing sinks, 
Like the same shower upon a sunny field. 
That drinks it silently, and shows its thanks 
By smiles and glad increase." 

It is female influence which governs this nation, and to it I 
look for an entire change in the present aspect of Society. 

The men, too, have their societies, whose objects are praise- 
worthy and noble ; and I should be as unjust to my own 
feelings, as to them, if I did not cheer them onward to the 
accomplishment of their purposes. 

No, brethren ; you will bear me a unanimous testimony that 
I have not implanted in your minds any malice toward your 
persecutors, but, on the contrary, forgiveness of injuries. And 
I can as truly aver that, in all my intercourse with you as a 
people, I have not seen or heard any thing of a malignant or 
revengeful spirit. No : yours has been eminently a spirit of 
resignation and faith, under the most aggravating circum- 
stances. You rely on no weapons of war, but on those alone 
which are mighty, through God, to the pulling down of strong 
holds. 

But not only have you, in this city, been steadily rising in 
the estimation of the wise and good by your laudable efforts 
for self-improvement, but a regenerative impulse has been felt 
by your brethren and sisters in many other places. Every 
where associations are multiplying among your people, for the 
promotion of temperance,* virtue and knowledge. Every 

♦With honest pride — with heart-felt satisfaction would I mention the fact, as 
highly creditable to the people of color in Boston, that, at the close of my fare- 
well address to them, at my recommendation to form a Temperance Society 
among themselves, one hundred and fourteen individuals, males and females, im- 
mediately subscribed their names as members of such a society ; and when I left 
the city, about one hundred and fifty had agreed to touch not, taste not, handle not 
ardent spirits as a drink any more. Such acts as these, brethren, give me strength 
at>d boldaets in your c»us«. 



15 



where, in the free States, the gospel is preached, converts are 
increasing, churches arising, and streams of salvation flowing 
in your midst. Every where industry is banishing your pov- 
erty,— economy is regulating your means,— enterprise is en- 
larging the sphere of your business,— and intelligence is rais- 
ing you up to the true dignity of man. Every where you are 
triumphantly refuting the base, and cruel, and inexpressibly 
malignant aspersions of the Colonization Society, both in re- 
lation to your situation and conduct. If there be present, on 
this occasion, any well-meaning or vindictive supporter of 
that corrupt and heathenish combination of men-stealers and 
their wretched dupes, let him cast his eye over this large and 
respectable assembly, and mark its general aspect of cheerful- 
ness, comfort, decorum and moral excellence, and then re- 
member the lying accusations which are brought against the 
free people of color, and published in every section of our 
country, with all the boldness of infallible truth, by the Colo- 
nization Society— such as, "freedom confers no privilege on 
them but the privilege of being more vicious and miserable 
than slaves can be,"—" their freedom is licentiousness,"— 
" they are the most corrupt, depraved and abandoned of the 
human race,"—" they are scarcely reached in their debase- 
ment by the heavenly light"— and a volume of other equally 
heinous and impudent calumnies. 

I will notice but one other charge which the enemies of our 
cause has brought against me. It is, that I am unduly ex- 
citing your hopes, and holding out to your view prospects of 
future happiness and respectabiUty which can never be rea- 
lised in this country. Pitiful complaint ! Because I have 
planted a solitary rose, as it were, in the wilderness of suffer- 
ing in which your race has so long wandered, to cheer your 
drooping hearts, I am sharply reproved for giving even this 
little token of good things to come— by those, too, who make 
loud professions of friendship for you, that is, if you will go to 
Liberia, but who are constantly strewing in your path briars 
and thorns, and digging pits into which you may stumble to 
rise no more. These querulous complainants, who begrudge 
every drop of comfort which falls upon your thirsty hps, as a 
miser mourns the loss of a penny, seem to forget or discard 



16 

the promise of Jehovah, that " the wilderness shall bud and 
blossom as the rose." I have faith to believe that this promise 
will ultimately be fulfilled, even in this land of republicanism 
and Christianity. Surely I may be pardoned, when so many 
are endeavoring to break down all your towering hopes and 
noble aspirations, if I urge you not to despair, for the day of 
redemption will assuredly come. Nay, I may still be forgiven, 
if I transcend the limits of probability, and suffer my imagina- 
tion to paint in too glowing colors the recompense which is to 
be yours ; since, strive as I may, I can scarcely hope to equal- 
ize the heart-crushing discouragements and assaults made by 
your enemies. 

Why, once more let nie ask, should we be sad on this occa- 
sion ? Is not the great Babel of our country, the American 
Colonization Society, tottering to its fall ? Already the light- 
ning of truth has smitten it from the top-stone to its founda- 
tion. At its last annual meeting, the principles of freedom 
and slavery met in open contest, and a division was made 
that can never be healed. Wherever we turn our eyes, we 
see good men abandoning it in haste, and coming over in 
crowds to our standard ; and striving, too, by superior exer- 
tions to make up for past error and lost time. Truly, it is the 
Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. 

Three years ago, the American Colonization Society was a 
haughty and powerful combination : now it is greatly shorn 
of its strength — and in three years more, there will be "none 
so poor to do it reverence," except southern kidnappers and 
their incorrigible abettors. 

I can concede to that Society, neither benevolence of purpose, 
nor wisdom of action ; neither clearness of moral vision, nor 
innocency of character. In the light of revelation — that cheer- 
ing light which illumines the strait and narrow path to hea- 
ven, and which concentrates its effulgence upon our beloved 
though guilty land — I say in the light of revelation, to me the 
principles of the Colonization Society appear blacker than the 
skin of its victims — black as perdition. Language becomes 
brittle and powerless under the weight of my abhorrence of 
them. I execrate the origin, the designs, and the movements 
of this great red dragon, red with the blood of the poor inno- 



17 

cents, whose tail has drawn a third part of the stars of heaven, 
and who stands ready to devour the child of the slave mother 
as soon as it is born. All the land have long been wondering 
after the beast ; but, thanks be to God, he is about to be cast 
out, and his angels with him ; and a voice is heard in our 
land, swelling louder and louder upon the ear, saying, — "Now 
is come salvation and strength .... for the accuser of our 
BRETHREN is cast down . . . Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, 
and ye that dwell in them." 

Although you are perfectly familiar with the atrocious doc. 
trines of the Colonization Societ3% and have sorely felt its op- 
pressive operations, yet there are three aspects presented by 
it which I beg you particularly to contemplate. The first 
is, wherein the Society avows, in relation to the God-robbers 
and men-stealers of .the south. " We hold their slaves, as we 
hold their other property, sacred." Thus they place more 
than two millions of their fellow creatures on a level with 
houses, lands and cattle ; and this is the reason why they re- 
gard slavery with so much complacency. They rank the 
slaves among beasts, but beasts exceedingly fierce and horri- 
ble, whose expulsion by a gradual process, until they are too 
few to be dangerous, is deemed by them a consummation most 
devoutly to be wished. They hold that the slaves are sacred 
property ; consequently, that their restoration to freedom 
ought to depend as exclusively and completely upon the will 
of their masters, as the giving up by them of goods and chatties 
for charitable purposes. Here, then, is a treacherous aban- 
donment of the claims of justice and humanity, and as com- 
plete a participation in all the crimes and abominations of the 
south — as bloody a conspiracy against the bodies and souls of 
men — as cordial a co-operation with kidnappers, as was ever 
entered into between the enemies of the human race. O, cursed 
aUiance ! The Lord shall break it in pieces, as a potters vessel 
is broken. O, fatal snare ! They who spread it shall be taken 
therein, and receive their merited doom. O, whited sepulchre ! 
The bones of its victims, and its pestilential rottenness, are be- 
coming visible to every eye. 

Let us hear the Society once more — " We hold their skives,^ 
as we hold their other property, SACRED." Sacred villainy ! 



honest robbery ! immaculate corruption ! benevolent barbarity ? 
/ hold their slaves, as I hold other men, as " endowed with 
certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and 
the piirsuil of happhicss'' — as justly possessing dominion over 
the beasts of tlie field and the fowls of the air — as created a 
little lower than the angels, for high and sublime purposes — 
as capable of loving and serving the Most High God, and 
destined to live forever beyond the grave ; — and I hold all 
those who claim to he their masters and owners, from the 
President of the United States down to the meanest " broker 
m the trade of blood." as the enemies of their species, and as 
guilty as any of the wretches who infest the African coast for 
the purpose of kidnapping the natives. 

Another aspect of the Colonization Society is,-" It condemns 
no tnan because he is a slaveholder^' — or, in other words, it 
condemns no man because he usurps the prerogative of God, 
claims unlimited dominion over his sable brother, plunders 
him of the fruits of his toil, and ranks him as an implement of 
husbandry ! Surely, theu, neither philanthropists, patriots, 
nor christians can support the Society. I repeat the decla- 
ration which I have made before publicly. For myself, I 
hold no fellowship with slave owners. I will not make a 
truce with them, even for an hour. I blush for them as coun- 
trymen — I cannot recognise them as christians. The higher 
they raise their professions of patriotism or piety, the stronger 
is my detestation of their hypocrisy. They are dishonest and 
cruel ; and God, and the angels, and the devils, and the uni- 
verse, know that they are without excuse. 

A third aspect presented by this anti-republican and anti- 
christian combination is, — "The Society maintains that no 
slave ought to receive his liberty, except on condition of being 
excluded, not merely from the State which sets him loose, 
BUT FROM THE WHOLE COUNTRY ; that is, of being Cohnized'' 
A baser or more ferocious alternative was never given to 
helpless, suffering man. Look at it ! There are upwards of 
two millions of human beings in this land, who have been 
rohbed of their freedom, trafficked like beasts, and reduced to 
the lowest state of degradation, ever since they were born. 
What is the duty of their tyrants ? Why, to obey God, by 



19 

instantly undoing every burdenj breaking every yoke, and let- 
ting their victims go free. But the colonization dragon full 
of lying wonders, audaciously lifts up his crest, and maintaiTis, 
against the command of Jehovah, that, unless these two mil- 
lions can be banished from their native land — aland of civih- 
zation and light — to a foreign land, a land of barbarism, and 
cast in all their helplessness, ignorance and depravity, like 
bales of goods, upon the shores of Africa, if is right that they 
and their posterity should remain among us in servitude and 
chains ! — Down, down with the monster ! Let us drive him 
back to his own place — the bottomless pit of darkness. 

It is proper, my dear friends, that you should understand 
the objects of my mission to England. At the unanimous re- 
quest of the Managers of the New-England Anti-Slavery 
society, — and satisfied in my own mind, after great consider- 
ation, that the finger of Providence points out the way, — I 
have concluded to visit that noble country where so much has 
been done, and is now doing, to promote the freedom and wel- 
fare of the colored race. Of the nature of my reception among 
her philanthropists, I cannot doubt. My spirit will be elevated 
and cheered in the presence of Wilberforce, Clarkson, Buxton, 
Brougham, O'Connell, Stuart, Cropper, and other champions 
of freedom. I long to be in a land where I can breathe freely 
on the subject of oppression. Although this is styled " the 
land of the free and the home of the brave," — a land of pure 
democracy, — a christian land ; and although the people thereof 
have met together in a national capacity, for the fifty-sixth 
time, solemnly to declare that all men are created free and 
equal — sternly to denounce tyranny, and, in imitation of their 
fathers, to pledge their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred 
honor, that they will perish sooner than submit to the yoke of 
bondage ; — notwithstanding all this, there are millions of 
SLAVES in the United States, and it is deemed a criminal act to 
plead for their deliverance — as the reward of five thousand 
dollars which has been offered by the Legislature of Georgia 
for the delivery of my body to her authorities, and the nume- 
rous threats to slay me which are made, sufficiently prove. 
For a short space, then, I propose to leave this free republican, 
christian country, and go lo one in which there is a king and 



20 



a proud nobility ; but Where my denunciations against the 
persecution and oppression of your color will be received, not 
as in this country with astonishment, and rage, and scorn, but 
with loud cheers — with thunders of applause ! There, 1 can- 
not speak too planily, nor betray too much zeal, nor be too 
uncompromising in my demands. 

We are now endeavoring to establish a National Manual 
Labor School for the education of colored youth. To this in- 
stitution the child of ihe poorest parents may be sent, free of 
expense. The scholars will happily combine labor and study 
together, and thus be healthy in body as well as intelligent in 
mind. They will be instructed in the various branches of me- 
chanics and agriculture, as well as of literature and science. 
In order to make this school of extensive usefulness and of na- 
tional magnitude, it is proposed to raise, by subscription and 
donations, at home and abroad, the sum of at least fifty thou- 
sand dollars. My principal object, therefore, in visiting Eng- 
land at this time, is, to invoke the aid of her rich and liberal 
philanthropists in establishing tliis school for the benefit of your 
children. They will, I am confident, shower their charities 
upon the enterprise, and enable us to carry it into successful 
operation. Their hearts are warm — their means ample — their 
disposition generous. Can I but succeed ? 

Another object of my mission — one scarcely less important 
than the first — is, to counteract the pernicious efforts and ex- 
pose the base impositions of an Agent of the American Colo- 
nization Society, who has long been in that country, and who 
has succeeded in duping the British people out of large snms 
of money to promote the objects of the brazen hand-maid of 
slavery. We are grieved in watching his deceitful career — 
in seeing generosity so abused, and confidence so misled. We 
feel that there is a high moral obligation resting upon us to 
show his duplicity to the English nation, and secure for your 
benefit, and the overthrow of slavery in this country, that 
money which he is accumulating to banish you from your na- 
tive land. Indeed, it is encouraging to learn that his impos- 
ture has been detected by many noble-hearted Britons, who 
are using all their efforts to put him down. Particularly are 
we indebted to James Croppek and Charles Stuart, two of 



21 

the leading philanthropists of the age, for their eloquent and 
powerful expositions of the rottenness of the Colonization 
Society. 

Another important object I have in view is, to establish a 
regular correspondence between the abolitionists of England 
and those of this country, and to secure a union of sentiment 
a^d action. Much useful information may be obtained, and 
many valuable anti-slavery tracts and publications collected 
for distribution among us. We deem it important to learn 
precisely, the methods adopted by the friends of abolition in 
England, in operating upon public sentiment; upon what 
principles, and by what regulations, their anti-slavery societies 
are conducted ; in what manner female influence has been so 
widely secured, and so powerfully exerted against slavery ; 
and, in short, to gather up all those facts, and obtain all those 
instructions, in relation to this great cause, which can in any 
degree assist us in destroying the monster oppression, and 
placing your whole race upon a footing of equality with the 
rest of the world. God speed the mission, brethren ! Let it 
receive your prayers ; and remember me in your supplications, 
that I may be strengthened and guided by Lifinite Wisdom ; 
for who is sufficient for these things, except the Lord of hosts 
be with him ? 

Be this your encouragement, in view of our separation. 
Although absent from you in body, I shall still be with you in 
spirit. I go away, not to escape from toil, but to labor more 
abundantly in your cause. If I may do something for your 
good at home, I hope to do more abroad. In the mean time, 
I beseech you fail not, on your part, to lead quiet and orderly 
lives. Let there be no ground whatever for the charge which 
is brought against you by your enemies, that you are turbu- 
lent and rude. Let all quarrelling, all dram-drinking, all pro- 
fanity, all violence, all division be confined to the white people. 
Imitate them in nothing but what is clearly good, and care- 
fully shun even the appearance of evil. Let them, if they will, 
follow the devices and perform the drudgery of the devil ; 
but be ye perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect. 
Conquer their aversion by moral excellence ; their proud 
spirit by love ; their evil acts by acts of goodness : their 



22 

animosity by forgiveness. Keep in your hearts the fear of God, 
and rejoice even in tribulation ; for the promise is sure, that 
all things shall work together for good to those who love His 
name. 

Finally — I would say, in the language of one of your 
noblest advocates — Charles Stuart — " Let not the colored 
man, whether enslaved or free, be discouraged. God left his 
own people 400 years in Egypt, while the Egyptians and the 
Ammonites were, year by year, filling up the measure of their 
iniquities, and making themselves altogether meet for destruc- 
tion. The same God is God still, and still the poor and the 
oppressed are as much his care as ever ; and still as much as 
ever He resisteth the proud, and is the enemy of the oppres- 
sor. Bear up, bi-ethren! God has children and servants both 
amongst yourselves and abroad, who enter into all your sym- 
pathies, and who are carrying you on their hearJs in prayer to 
his mercy-seat. Take courage ! verdant as the bay-leaf, 
though be the flourishing of the wicked for a season, yet he 
shall perish. He is heaping treasure together for the last days. 
Thus saith the Lord, "I, even I, am He that comforteth you. 
Who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a man that shall 
die, and of the son of man that shall be made as grass ; and 
forgettest the Lord thy Maker, that hath stretched forth the 
heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and fearest con- 
tinually every day because of the fury of the oppi'essor, as if 
he were ready to destroy. And where is the fury of the 
oppressor ?" 

" Be of good courage, brethren ! Christianity is shaking 
offits dust — the rottenness of the whited sepulchres is coming 
out — the gospel is resuming its healing power. There is 
J)alm in Gilead — there is a physician there. The moral sense 
of the land is awakening — despotism is quailing — falsehood 
is uncovering — trutli is about to triumph — liberty is to be 
restored. And prejudice, that fiend of darkness — that bane 
of the earth — that brand of the white man, searing him 
with infamy — that bane of the black man, tightening his 
chains or condemning him to exile : Prejudice shall be abol- 
ished, and over it, as over Babylon, soon shall be written, — 
" Prejudice, the tyrant of the tyrant — the waster of the poor 



23 

— the liar — the cuwuid — the mother of abominiiiions — is 
fallen, is fallen !" 

Brethren, we must part ; but Heaven grant it may not be 
long — or if to meet no more below, let ns see to it that none of 
us be missing in the great assembly of saints above. Scarcely 
any credit belongs to myself — all I can plead is, integrity of 
purpose, fearlessness of action, and devotion of soul. To 
you, much of the applause belongs. Had it not been for 
your co-operation, your generous confidence, your liberal sup- 
port, as a people, I might have been borne down by my ene- 
mies. Be assured, I never will forsake you or your cause. I 
shall be anxious to return with as little delay as possible. 
How long I may be absent, I cannot predict ; much will 
depend on the success of my mission. Whether I return in 
safety or peril, it matters, perhaps, but little. Beware not 
to rely too much on an arm of flesh — on my feeble exertions. 
If you do. He who alone can give you victory will take me 
from you. Recollect that I am only one among thousands 
who are contending as bcddly and as affectionately for your 
happiness and rights as myself. Our hope, dear brethren, is 
in God. Let our souls grapple with his promises, and fear 
not, whatever may betide us. 

Peace be with you — love one another fervently — and while 
you are strugglmg to be free from bodily oppression, my 
prayer shall be that your souls may all be brought into the 
glorious liberty of the sons of God. 

FAREWELL — 'FAREWELL ! 



Ja'12 



